Boswell's accurate appraisal

Off topic, but speaking of Boswell of the Wash. Post, what happened to Jason La Canfora's blog? Love him, or hate him, I enjoy reading his stuff. I recall him saying about a week ago that they were toying with the idea of everyone being required to sign up as a member, but I didn't catch anything else about it.

I think you overrate the Redskins. That's common, of course.

Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle-El do not make an elite receiving tandem. Moss had the one great year for us, and he's still an extremely dangerous weapon, but as was the case as a Jet he is inconsistent due to nagging hamstring and groin injuries. He is by no means durable. Randle-El is just beginning to develop, but he has never posted more than 800 yards in a season. Our WRs are average.

To call Jason Campbell special at this stage is giving him way too much credit. Peyton, Brady, and Palmer are special. Campbell has been inaccurate on deep throws all season, he throws a low liner on deep passes. He's a very promising QB, but I can think of about 10 QBs in the league right now who would have performed better than Campbell if they were on our team.

So much of our offensive ineptitude this year stems from the offensive line's injuries. Our running game would look tons better if we just had Randy Thomas, let alone Jon Jansen. You did say it; WHEN HEALTHY our line is really good. But it's not healthy, not even close. It's nothing more than average right now.

Boswell is right on the money. The Skins have done nothing this year to make me think they're anything better than an average NFL team. They're at a fork in the road right now. They've been traveling down the road of mediocrity so far, and now they're in position to choose one of two paths: overcome injuries, establish an identity, and take the road to the playoffs, or choose the road that leads home for January. Who the hell knows what to expect - but one thing's for sure, the results of this second half could be a defining moment in Gibbs' career. Can he turn an average team into a serious playoff contender, peaking at the right time? Or will his guys fold up like lawnchairs? If he can still coach as well as we all think, we'll have a December to remember yet again.

LOL!!! Very shocking for someone on Warpath to overrate The Skins! As far as production goes we have one of the WORST wr coprs in the NFL.

I was wondering about JLC's blog too.

As for the Boswell article, he nailed it. Cogent analysis and a good reminder for both the Kool Aid sippers and the those who take such pleasure in ripping everyone associated with the team. I do, however, think Boswell is slightly off when he writes, "In the second half, the Redskins face five mediocre teams, quite similar to themselves -- three at home (Philadelphia, Buffalo and Chicago (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chicago?tid=informline)) and two on the road (Tampa Bay (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Tampa+Bay?tid=informline) and Minnesota (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Minnesota?tid=informline))." Honestly, of those games, the problem is that four are conference opponents. Really the game that would hurt them the least would be the Buffalo game. Philly is a division game and both Tampa and Adrian Peterson could possibly muster enough wins to challenge for a Wildcard. Head-to-Head matchups and conference records are the first two tiebreakers. We're already down two conference games, I'm not sure we want to drop many more. Other problem is that 7 of the final 8 games are conference opponents. Every one will be important, and I don't see how he figures that being 8-7 heading into the Dallas game gives them a realistic shot at the playoffs, unless Detroit or New York really hit a tailspin. They need to be 9-6 at least heading into the final week, hopefully 10-5. It's a tough road.

Maybe its not that people overrate the skins it just that some like to think more positive than others. I have seen several people here that have nothing positive to say even when we win big like in the Lions game. Why cheer for a team when all you have is negative things to say. I'm just wonder how some people here can even root for a team when they are just so negative. You can say that I'm blind to what the team is doing but it is a whole lot more fun to think positive than to sit around a pi$$ and moan about the team some claim to love.

JLC's blog is still there. It's under Columns/Blogs. I don't know why it's not on Redskins page anymore though

I think you overrate the Redskins. That's common, of course.

Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle-El do not make an elite receiving tandem. Moss had the one great year for us, and he's still an extremely dangerous weapon, but as was the case as a Jet he is inconsistent due to nagging hamstring and groin injuries. He is by no means durable. Randle-El is just beginning to develop, but he has never posted more than 800 yards in a season. Our WRs are average.

To call Jason Campbell special at this stage is giving him way too much credit. Peyton, Brady, and Palmer are special. Campbell has been inaccurate on deep throws all season, he throws a low liner on deep passes. He's a very promising QB, but I can think of about 10 QBs in the league right now who would have performed better than Campbell if they were on our team.

So much of our offensive ineptitude this year stems from the offensive line's injuries. Our running game would look tons better if we just had Randy Thomas, let alone Jon Jansen. You did say it; WHEN HEALTHY our line is really good. But it's not healthy, not even close. It's nothing more than average right now.

Boswell is right on the money. The Skins have done nothing this year to make me think they're anything better than an average NFL team. They're at a fork in the road right now. They've been traveling down the road of mediocrity so far, and now they're in position to choose one of two paths: overcome injuries, establish an identity, and take the road to the playoffs, or choose the road that leads home for January. Who the hell knows what to expect - but one thing's for sure, the results of this second half could be a defining moment in Gibbs' career. Can he turn an average team into a serious playoff contender, peaking at the right time? Or will his guys fold up like lawnchairs? If he can still coach as well as we all think, we'll have a December to remember yet again.

Great post, the ending is very revealing & brings up a point:

Talent & ability is not just measured in the players, but also the coaches. We have the highest paid staff w/a hall of fame coach. That has a lot to do w/fan expectations & I hope has a lot to do w/why we're 5-3. I think you can say we have a very "talented" coaching staff.

I'd say our player talent is above avg. for the starters when all are healthy, but not high above avg. Overall, we are avg. because of poor depth in several areas. So I agree w/Bos for the most part.

Every year there are a few teams that over achieve. You're right in that if Gibbs can get these guys to play in Dec. the way the old Gibbs' teams did, we'll be right in the mix.

JLC's blog is still there. It's under Columns/Blogs. I don't know why it's not on Redskins page anymore though

Thanks. His blog on JC is worth reading too, glad you pointed out that the Redskins Insider hadn't gone away.

JC Through 15 Games - Redskins Insider (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2007/11/jc_through_15_games.html#more)

His blog is still there on the main Redskins page, just look at the menu they have there now and click on Insider.

The registration thing for JLCs blog was just if you want to post a comment--there's lots of nuts who jump on that thing.

Maybe its not that people overrate the skins it just that some like to think more positive than others. I have seen several people here that have nothing positive to say even when we win big like in the Lions game. Why cheer for a team when all you have is negative things to say. I'm just wonder how some people here can even root for a team when they are just so negative. You can say that I'm blind to what the team is doing but it is a whole lot more fun to think positive than to sit around a pi$$ and moan about the team some claim to love.

Thinking positive is great, it basically stems from an emotion... hope. We all hope the 'Skins make the playoffs, there is no doubt about that.

But thinking positive, or feeling hopeful, is completely different from what you actually think about the team. In order for opinions to be valid, everyone here needs to strip the emotion away, and evaluate the team as if you didn't care about them. Once you do that, it becomes clear we're average. If you don't do that, then right or wrong, your opinions tend to get dismissed as homerism.

Then once you realize we're average, you bring the emotion back come gameday, and you root for Joe Gibbs to accomplish something great - taking a team with solid talent and ravaged by injuries deep into the playoffs.

Thinking positive is great, but if you see the team for what it really is, you just might be able to enjoy the accomplishment Joe Gibbs is about to make. I see us for what we are, a middle-of-the-road football team. But I also see us for what we can be, a really good football team, and my excitement, hope, and vision exists explicitly because of our Hall of Fame coach. I think it's best to see us for what we are, but be hopeful for what we can be.